Talking With an Alcoholic About Getting Help

“Your candidate may give reasons why he need not follow all of the program. He may rebel at the thought of a drastic housecleaning which requires discussion with other people. Do not contradict such views. Tell him you once felt as he does, but you doubt whether you would have made much progress had you not taken action. On your first visit tell him about the fellowship of alcoholic’s anonymous .If he shows interest; lend him your copy of this book. Unless your friend wants to talk further about himself, do not wear out your welcome. Give him a chance to think it over. If you do stay, let him steer the conversation in any direction he like.” pg. 94- 95 Working with Others from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

It is important that we do not try to corner someone into recovery. It’s a program based on attraction rather than promotion and there is a reason for that. If we were to try and convince people that they need to get alcohol addiction help then they would not have gotten sober on their own accord but rather because they were preached to and told they need help. That is not what sobriety is about. When someone decides to go to a drug addiction detox, sober living, 30 day rehab program, or AA it is important that they come to the conclusion that they are powerless on their own so that they can own their recovery, struggles, and triumphs that come along with it. We can share our experience, strength, and hope by telling them what happened, what it used to be like, and what it’s like now. We can make ourselves available to anyone who’s suffering from this disease but that where our responsibilities stop as far as informing someone about this disease goes.